To quote John Prine, why, there was never really ever any doubt. To watch Kirsten Joy Weiss shoot, well, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I was driving my Ferrari F355B around Brands Hatch. I was dialed-in. Caning it. Hell for leather. Nine-tenths. Red mist. Ragged edge. I thought I was really something. Holding steady on a sweeping left-hander I caught sight of a flash of blue out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see a guy in a Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth driving around me, four-wheel drifting all the way. He raised his gloved hand and tipped his helmet. So much for my driving abilities, then. Same with Weiss. Or Miculek. Watching them shoot is a lesson in humility, and an inspiration for excellence. So who’s your favorite professional shooter, past or present? [NB: To post a YouTube video in comments, just cut and paste the url.]

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59 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t know if Mike Mers is pro per se, but his argyle sweaters and khakis are pretty cool.

  6. Miculek for sure. Those skills are impressive. That upside down pinky revolver shot at 200 yards is one of the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.

    • +1,000 on that one. Never seen anything like it. Here I thought Hickok45 was the man for hitting that 85yd gong with pocket guns then Miculek does that trick. Incredible.

      (btw, Hickok45 is still the man)

  7. This guy from back east, he goes by “Vinny.” Er…maybe I shouldn’t talk about this openly.

    Weiss. I’m a sucker for high precision shooting.

  8. Jerry Miculek, for sure. I cannot believe how fast that man can shoot!
    Kirsten Joy Weiss comes in close second. Se can shoot, shoot well, and look damn fine doing it! Can’t see many others doing that.

    • Dave Sevigny, as well. I’ve seen him help and coach others many times. He’s a great guy and awesome ambassador for the sport and FN.

      Jerry Miculek has an advantage that most don’t know. He’s fast. I RO’d him many years ago at a Area Match. I hit the buzzer and he was GONE. Normally, I’d say all I saw was heels and smoke, but honestly all I saw was smoke. I ran full speed to catch up to him. I think he knew that he left me behind because he turned around afterwards and gave me a big smile. He’s also mucho cool.

  10. In fairness, much like the Turbocharged SVO mustangs of the day, the Sierra Cosworth’s were wicked fast. Much faster than the spec’s might suggest. I have a Turbocharged mustang, and it will surprise many “faster” cars due to its light weight and small Rev happy engine.

  12. Miculek, hands down. No contest. That dude is a superhuman cyborg shooting machine.

  13. Not a professional, but Hickok45 is definitely my favorite. I identify with him the most as while I have a couple of modern firearms, the guns I really want are all historical pieces.

  15. Sorry, Kirsten, I have to go with jerry. You are a great shooter, and win the beauty contest hands down, but Jerry is just so superhuman in his speed and accuracy–and his entertainment value. “Get some!”

  16. Kirsten. She’s just damn delightful. I also enjoy Hickock for completely different reasons.

  17. Jerry. I’ve learned so much by watching his videos, especially the slow motion shots.

  18. How ’bout Carlos Hathcock? A USMC sniper counts as a professional shooter, right?

  19. Like naming a favorite song, I can only narrow it down to a short list that is in no particular order.

    Miculek.
    Munden.
    Knapp.

  20. It’s a tie between Jerry “the bionic granpa” Miculek & Kirsten Joy Weiss… He’s fast as all get out & she’s refreshing, for lack of a better term, she’s always so happy to shoot & excited about the challenges of shooting.

  22. Brian Enos and Rob Leatham. Both are incredible shooters who had and continue to have a huge impact on the shooting sports, and reading about their history together helping to evolve handgun techniques is fascinating reading. Both are super nice stand up guys too.

  28. I’d say that Munden was the best of all time. Of those alive, Jerry Miculek is the reigning king!

    But for the women shooters, Imma hafta go with Julie Golob. All-time winningest female, but with a sense of humility seen in few champions.

  31. First choice should probably be Joe Biden second would be Hickok45.

    Yes I count Hickok45 as a pro because if you can nail “the gong” at 80 yards with a j-frame, your a pro.

  34. Me.
    I’m also a professional soccer player and a professional tennis player. I pay to play, so that makes me a professional….

  35. Working today it has to be Jerry.

    But my heart belongs to some of the pro that went on the road for the gun and ammo company’s back in the 1920s 30s etc. I saw some of them when I was a kid in the 1950s and big memory I have of their shows was the pure joy of performing for us that they had. The show I recall best (though sadly not the name of the husband and wife team) was set up at a farm field with a lake behind it I think so they had the needed 1 mile + safe down range area as the show included a lot of targets shot in the air with .22 rim fire pump rifles as well as some with .22 pistol work… I think to spare our young ears with out the need of providing all of us with at the time hard to source ear plugs. But there were 4 scout and my Cub Scout troupe there and boy did we enjoy the show… Which by the way started with a section on safety… Then at the end of the show they selected about 20 of us to come up and be allowed to shoot their guns at some targets in sticks about 25 feet away… They tossed a bunch of the little blocks of wood that they had been using for thrown targets in to the audience and some of them had a red X on them if you caught one with the X you got to have a shooting lesson with them in front of your friends….
    And I caught one and at age 7 or 8 it made my day, week and month for while my dad had already started my shooting education Here I was getting to shoot in front of all my friends as well as the older Boy Scouts.
    There Was of course no eye protection or things like release forms back then, though of course our scout masters as well as a few of our parents were there with us.
    But what I most recall is the fun that that couple were having performing for us

  36. Ed McGivern.

    Thinking about buying his book. Can revolver tecniques be applied to semi-autos?

    Now living I would say Jerry Miculek. Hope to be almost as good as him, I am quick though I am many years from that level of skill. Talent will only take you so far, gotta practice. Ain’t got much time/opportunity to practice 🙁

    Also can’t forget hickok45, snubbie at 80 yards is impressive.

    • Woops, post got clobbered by my Kindle…

      The other shooter that is part of my childhood, is Thell Reed. As a young crew cut Marine he OWNED everything out there. He was involved in the Hollywood hey day of TV westerns teaching stars to shoot. There are a number of videos of him over on Youtube. He is still active in the industry today…

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thell_Reed

  38. In this order…

    Herbert McBride
    Alvin York
    Carlos Hathcock
    Charles Mawhinney

    Not for their showmanship but their ingenuity in making the shots they needed to. The four on this list fought the lack of equipment, weather, and designed their own mechanical improvements to aid their talent.

    one more…Chuck Connors. Yes he was as good as his character with a real rifle. He was just that fast and accurate. No one has been like him with a lever action since.

    • Alvin York was the quintessential bad ass. Anyone who isn’t familiar with his story needs to google it.

  41. Jerry Miculek. 60 years old and he’s STILL the best in the world. I’m also 60 and can’t believe how fast he is. I don’t think there is any equivalent in any sport.

    • He still hasn’t beaten some of Ed McGivern’s records.

      Kinda feels like discussing AR vs AK, just in regards to proffesional shooters.

      • Yup. And Ed’s timers were part mechanical. (Makes me wonder just how fast he really was.
        I have his book and video of him.
        He could shoot like Jerry while standing on the running boards of a moving car.

  44. I came up with a thought a number of years ago that with all the ridiculous stuff they put out in Hollywood they should make a movie where a professional shooter ends up taking on a drug cartel or something so there’d be a built in excuse for why the good guy was single handedly shooting an entire army to shreds. I’d still like to see that movie made and there’s only one guy I can see in the lead role and that’s Jerry Miculek. With his Smith and Wesson revolver and about 20 speed loaders. Maybe Kirsten Joy could land a role as his daughter who snipes the bad guys from the treeline.

  47. With my eyes closed and ears open Jerry Miculek reigns supreme. When the opposite is true Jessie Duff wins by a landslide

  48. It’s a toss-up between Miculek and McGivern for me. Both are [were] fast as hell and amazing marksmen.

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